The 'smell test'

I find Ms. Jade Stone's letter in the Dec. 27, 2018, issue of New Times highly questionable ("Something stinks in SLO County"). Her claim that U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal's response to her request for help accessing health care through Community Care (Veterans Affairs) is at odds with my experience working as a staff member in a Congressional regional office. Each senator (my staff experience) and Congress person has dedicated volunteers and staff assigned to handle constituent complaints or concerns. As an elected official, I can't imagine any member of Congress glibly dismissing Ms. Stone's complaint. In my experience, the congressman would either make a note of her concerns and turn it over to the appropriate staff member or would have provided Ms. Stone with a contact name and phone number for someone to help look into her concerns and, in all probability, respond directly to Ms. Stone and document the response with the regional office. I'm sorry, the tone of Ms. Stone's letter does not pass the "smell test."

John Lalley

Los Osos

Note: This letter was edited to correct the publication date of the referenced piece.